Nancy Pelosi: When Women Succeed America Succeeds

Alex Wong/Getty Images27 Jul 2016Philadelphia

The woman leading Democrats in the House addressed delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Tuesday minutes after they voted by acclamation to nominate Hillary Clinton their candidate for president of the United States.

“In 1776, not far from here, our founding fathers created our Nation,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.), whose father and brother were mayors of Baltimore and whose husband is a multi-millionaire real estate magnate in San Francisco. “Ninety-six years after American women first won the right to vote, 96 years ago, we are preparing to shatter the highest frozen marble ceiling in our country by electing Hillary Clinton president of the United States.”

The congresswoman dodged and deflected pressure to endorse Clinton during the primaries, but she finally did so the day of the June 7 California primary.

Pelosi was joined on stage by other female members of the House, who also came to voice their support after Leader Pelosi. The 20-minute program with Pelosi and her sister congresswomen was consistent with other elements of the night, but stood in contrast with comments made to Politico’s Glenn Thrush on his “Off Message” podcast.

In the podcast episode released Tuesday, Pelosi told Thrush that although she believes Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars to demonize her because she is a woman, she thinks Clinton should dial back the female identify politics.

“I don’t think that any woman should be asked to vote for someone because she’s a woman, and that — because the candidate is a woman,” the former speaker told Thrush.

“When I was running for leadership, the last thing I would say to my whips [was], ‘Do not ever say to anybody it’s time for us to have a woman in the leadership,’ because that’s the least important selling point,” she said, going on to offer some unsolicited advice: “In terms of Hillary Clinton and this election, I think that the attitude that … you should vote for her because she’s a woman and you’re a woman is not a good selling point. And I think that turns some people off.”

Pelosi told the delegates: “Aren’t you proud to be a part of this historic moment in our history?”

Clinton knows that it is not just about one woman’s achievement, she said. “But, what it means to the dreams, hopes and aspirations of every woman, every son and every daughter across the land.”

Nothing is more important for American than having more women participating and taking leading roles in government and politics, she said.

“The Democratic women of the House are leading the way to unleash the power of America’s women and working families in our economy, our society and our Democracy,” she said.